In a new study in the BMJ, researchers analyzed the Food and Drug Administration database where manufactures report adverse events and found that a huge number of reports come in late. Manufacturers are required to report issues within 30 days of finding out about them. Of 4.4 million manufacturer reports between 2019 and 2022, about 600,000, or nearly 14%...
Category: <span>News</span>
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A once-a-year HIV shot?
It’s possible that HIV could be prevented by an annual shot — at least, that’s what new data from Gilead suggests. The drug company has been developing a new HIV drug called lenacapavir, which until now has been tested just twice a year. Scientists have been tweaking the drug’s formulation and recently found in a 40-person...
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States Facing MD Shortages Ease Licensing Rules for IMGs
Arielle Zionts March 03, 2025 1757 Added to Email Alert A growing number of states have made it easier for doctors who trained in other countries to get medical licenses, a shift supporters say could ease physician shortages in rural areas. The changes involve residency programs — the supervised, hands-on training experience that doctors must...
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Beam reports first evidence of in-vivo gene editing for lung disease
Beam Therapeutics said this morning that it used a form of CRISPR called base editing to correct, in several patients, the mutation that drives a debilitating lung condition that may affect tens of thousands of Americans. The company touted the data as evidence of the first successful use of CRISPR gene editing to fix a disease-causing...
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Walgreens to be acquired in $10B take-private deal
Walgreens to be acquired in $10B take-private deal The struggling retail pharmacy chain entered an agreement to be purchased by private equity firm Sycamore Partners, which could end its nearly 100-year run as a public company. from STAT: UnitedHealth continues making stealthy deals, pushing deeper into medical care as scrutiny mounts Financial documents show the...
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Judge rules against compounding group; Hims’ shares fall
From STAT’s Elaine Chen: A federal judge this week ruled against a compounding trade group that wanted to continue making copies of Eli Lilly’s obesity drug tirzepatide (sold under the brand names Mounjaro and Zepbound). For background: The FDA last year took tirzepatide off its shortage list, which meant compounding pharmacies could no longer legally make...
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BMJ Global Health.
one big number 130% That’s how much the global number of osteoarthritis cases increased between 1990 and 2021 among women who have gone through menopause, according to research published yesterday in BMJ Global Health. Osteoarthritis occurs in the flexible cartilage in one’s hips, knees, hands, and other joints. Over the study period, it occurred most often...
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DOJ probes device maker whose tests lead to lucrative diagnoses for UnitedHealth
Casey Ross writes: STAT exclusively reported on Monday that the Department of Justice is investigating Semler Scientific for possible violations of the False Claims Act. Semler’s only product, QuantaFlo, is used to test patients for peripheral artery disease. STAT reported last year that QuantaFlo, which uses a proprietary algorithm, generated a flood of questionable, and lucrative, diagnoses for UnitedHealth and other insurers. Each diagnosis is worth about...
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Skype to Fade Into Digital History on May 5
Posted Today After transforming how we communicate across borders, Skype will make its final call on May 5, concluding a remarkable two-decade journey as Microsoft shifts focus entirely to its Teams platform. Using Skype – artistic impression. Image credit: Freepik, free license Born in 2003, Skype radically transformed global communication, turning expensive international calls into affordable digital conversations...
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Trump administration mum amid deadly measles outbreak
Julio Cortez/AP When measles struck New York in 2018 and 2019, federal health officials uniformly preached the power of immunizations. President Trump, himself, implored people to get the shot. But several years later, public messaging has dramatically changed, writes STAT’s Andrew Joseph. At a Cabinet meeting Wednesday, a reporter asked Trump about the rapidly growing outbreak...